, Iris Murdoch, And Hsun Tzu's Beliefs Of Morality

Martin Luther King Jr. expresses his views for obeying “Just” laws, while disregarding “Unjust” laws because of moral purposes. In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Dr. King speaks on how he “Urge people to obey laws,” as well as “urge them to disobey segregation ordinances”. “I agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all.” Dr. King’s reason for following certain laws and not others is because he believes there are two types of laws. Just laws are beneficial to all races and “Is the man-made code that squares with the moral law or the Law of God”, unjust laws neglects certain human races needs and personalities and “Is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.” Dr. King does not disapprove Supreme Court decisions, yet if it involves segregation he feels as though it “Distorts the soul and damages the personality.” Dr. King states, “Segregation is not only politically, economically, and sociologically unsound, it is also morally wrong and sinful.” At this point, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is past describing how segregation affects people, but is now saying how segregation for example affects the political system such as denying Negroes the right to vote. “Throughout Alabama all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters.” Negroes make up the majority population in the counties of Alabama “Not a single Negro is

King quotes St. Augustine in paragraph fifteen, saying “an unjust law is no law at all.” Using this quote adds strength to his views, implying that St. Augustine would support him if he were still alive. He then states “all segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality” (para 16). After this begins King’s use of examples of how Christians broke unjust laws because of their beliefs in God. He reminds readers that civil disobedience “was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar”(para 21). He then goes on to another instance saying civil disobedience “was practiced superbly by the early Christians, who were willing to

What is law? Law is a system of rules used to govern a society and control the behaviors of its members. In this case, Martin Luther King is charged for breaking a law. King questions the differences between just and unjust laws to justify his actions in Birmingham and the charges of breaking laws willingly. Defending his willingness to break laws, King argues, “How can you advocate breaking laws and obeying other?” He answers to accusation of his willingness to break laws with a well-written argument of what is just and unjust laws. Martin Luther King uses the definition, the categories, and the implication of the law excellently to answer the charges of breaking laws willingly.

King categorizes law into two types: just and unjust. He describes a just law as a “man-made code” that falls in line with moral law while an unjust law is one that deviates from moral law. King claims that just laws can uplift people while unjust ones degrade them. In stating these ideas, King provides his audience with his own definition of what laws are and what they can do. The reader can now apply this definition to attain a better understanding of King’s ideology and better connect with King’s larger purpose of the letter. King also examines laws that in method are fair but in practice are oppressive. This helps make his definition be more complete by presenting a multitude of ways a law can be unjust. He shows that laws can be unjust in writing and in application. King explains his criteria for just and unjust laws in order to move his argument forward in answering the criticisms of his fellow clergymen.

Furthermore, King connects with his audience when he criticizes the unjust segregation laws. When accused of having a desire to break laws, King immediately disproves that theory by agreeing with their concern, and then discusses the difference between just and unjust laws. He quotes St. Thomas Aquinas faultlessly when he states his thoughts on law: "Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality" (222). He continues to say that a person has a "moral responsibility" (221) to refuse to comply with unjust laws, as well as having an obligation to obey just laws. His statement forces his readers to put themselves in his shoes and think of their moral responsibility to stand up against unjust laws regardless of

King then differentiates between just laws and unjust laws. By quoting St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, he states that unjust laws are not considered laws.

An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.? The Clergymen express great concern over King is willingness to break laws. King replies that this is an understandable concern since everyone follows the Supreme Court Decision of 1954 that states; public schools are not to be segregated. In other words King is saying the Supreme Court can hand down a just law and yet people do not obey it but yet they expect me to obey an unjust law. In Germany under Adolf Hitler every thing he did was ?legal? and the freedom fighters in Hungry did everything ?illegally?. Aiding a Jew under Hitler was considered ?illegal?. Because these things were legal did that make it right? No. Should people have obeyed these laws? No. These laws were made to suppress a group of people simple because of there religion. This is much like the segregation in the United States is it right because it is the law? No. Should these laws be followed? No.

In Iris Murdoch’s ‘Morality and Religion”, she discusses the balance between the conscious morality of human nature and the connection between a supernatural being of religious beliefs. Murdoch writes on the topic of virtue, if there can only be one true concept of it, or if there are multiple ideas or beliefs that create it. Murdoch then goes to discuss the difference between virtue and duty, which ultimately comes down to three types: virtue ethics, duty ethics, and pragmatic ethics. When she speaks of morality, she questions if good behavior has any part of religious idealism or if a nonreligious being could foster just as good behavior. Then leading into the feeling of guilt and if morality relates to it. Finishing her passage in the thought of whether religion is moral in nature and if high morality is essentially religion.

Every point that Dr. King had to make was related back to the Bible or the church. He drew symmetrical lines between his letter and St. Paul's writing. He was also able to draw parallels between him and Socrates as advocates of change and open dissent of public opinion and both of their connection to the Bible. "Just as the prophets of the eighth century…my own home town". (King, 174) His open disagreement with unjust laws was also in accordance with the Bible. He mentioned that just laws were laws that went along with the natural moral laws. Anything that went against that natural law or morality was unjust. He pointed out that following an unjust law would go against one's own morality, and for whoever had any religious morality, they would not want to partake in an unjust law. Dr. King clearly identified that, not

Martin Luther King Jr., was a civil rights activist who spoke freely about civil disobedience in the Letter from Birmingham Jail while he was locked up for civilly disobeying the law. He was writing to eight white clergymen that also felt that many of the laws were unjust, however they showed agreement with Socrates by stating that he should not disobey the laws. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “one has a moral responsibility to disobey just laws because if we did not disobey them then unjust acts would continue to occur, causing our country to be harmed”. He also stated that “an unjust law is no law at all”. Martin Luther King Jr. did believe that laws were setup and enforced to assist and support the residents of the state however, if a law was unfair or unconstitutional, then the law would

The answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws: there are just and there are unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that 'An unjust law is no law at all'", he goes on to say, "How does one determine when a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law of God.” We have a duty to stand up and protect the rights of our fellow people and defend the law God has given

According to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., there is a distinct difference between “just” and “unjust laws”. King writes, “A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law” (Michaelvdg 2010). This concept dates back to a philosophy developed by the Romans. The Roman’s code was between these two concepts, “Ius Gentium” and “Ius Naturalis”. Ius Gentium means a law that is universally practiced, where Ius Naturalis means natural law (Michaelvdg 2010). One way to explain the difference between the two is by using slavery as an example. Slavery was

K. Overberg in religion, Discipleship and the moral life--introduction to catholic morality: Foundations of Catholic morality, and Aldous Huxley in Brave New World develop an idea that morality is shaped by culture. Morality is distinguishing between right and wrong- it is something that is taught through religion and culture. While it may be confusing and at times difficult, it is what keeps the future from corruption. John refuses to conform with the rules of society beginning with his proposal to Lenina to then denying her completely to stand behind his religious morals. John protests Lenina's actions “retreating in terror” and “pushing her away ” as he realizes what her intentions truly are (Huxley 192-193).

Morals beliefs, having principles that can help someone determine right from wrong. One can also say, rules that govern or determine what a person live by. Everyone has their own morals and beliefs. They choose what they want to do in life, and how they want to live their lives. The fact that we live in a society where everyone has the right to do whatever they want; people take advantage of that.

Life is full of laws, unjust and just. But what makes a law unjust? Is it just discrimination or, could it be more. People have always been treated differently depending on race, whether you know it or not there has always been discrimination in our society. We have laws and business practices that supports discrimination known and unknown, these laws that unjust laws are practiced on a daily basis. One way to define an unjust law is one that shows favor to group or another. A philosopher named Robert k. Fullenwider believes the only way to fix this is not by making new laws in order to reverse the damage that has been done. On the other hand martin Luther king Jr believes that we need laws in order to right the wrongs unjust laws of the past.